Munetaka Murakami nearly had the Chicago White Sox’s first hit Thursday night, leading off the seventh inning with a sinking liner to right field.
Jake Mangum made a diving catch to rob Murakami of a single, keeping Pittsburgh Pirates starter Jared Jones’ no-hit bid alive. But with two outs in the inning, Sox shortstop Colson Montgomery hit a liner that Mangum had no chance of corralling for a double off the right-field wall.
The Sox would collect just one more hit, a single in the ninth by Randal Grichuk, in a 2-0 loss in front of 17,741 at Rate Field.
Jones and relievers Luke Weaver and Mason Montgomery combined for the two-hitter as the Pirates swept the three-game series.
“It was a tough day obviously,” manager Will Venable said. “You’ve got to give some credit to these arms that they have over here, which are really good. We saw some really good fastballs this series. Today was the same thing with Jones where he was really aggressive with the fastball, saw a lot of swings and misses, foul balls, and then had a really good slider too.
“Just weren’t able to make the adjustments and move the ball forward. On the other end, the pitching did a great job to keep us in this thing. Just one of those games where you’ve got to find a way. Couldn’t find it tonight.”
The Sox (75-71) are in a rut at the worst possible time, losing eight of 11. Their lead in the American League Central is down to 1½ games over the Cleveland Guardians (74-73), who were off Thursday.
“These series happen,” Sox pitcher Erick Fedde said. “It’s not something we’re happy about. Sometimes a punch in the face is needed to get going.
“But we’re still in a good spot in the division. Obviously making it a little harder on ourselves, but good wake-up call. Teams aren’t going to roll over for us. Time to dig our cleats in and get the job done.”
The Sox couldn’t get anything going Thursday against Jones, who allowed one hit, struck out eight and walked two in seven scoreless innings.
“He throws 100 with a hard slider,” Sox designated hitter Andrew Benintendi said. “We helped him out tonight chasing on the slider down. But he spotted up a few fastballs down early, which he was tunneling the slider pretty well off of.
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“Their whole staff seems like they all throw 100, so it will be good to put them in our rearview.”
Jones received defensive help in the second when center fielder Oneil Cruz made a sliding catch to rob Benintendi of a single.
Cruz then aided the Pirates offensively, homering against Fedde in the fourth. He added an RBI single in the eighth against reliever Bryan Hudson, a run that was charged to Fedde.
Fedde allowed two runs on four hits with one strikeout and one walk in 5 1/3 innings as the bulk pitcher following opener Hagen Smith. Smith stuck out three and allowed two hits in two-plus innings in his first major-league start.
“Fedde was really good, really good sinker and sweeper to the righties and did a nice job to some of the lefties with the cutter and sweeper as well,” Venable said. “Really good stuff and another outing by him where he just finds a way, keeps us in a game and a really nice job.”
But the hits just weren’t falling for the Sox. The punchouts also piled up. The Sox stuck out 11 times Thursday and 35 times in the series.
The Sox were shut out for the 11th time this season and went 2-4 on the homestand.
“We all understand the situation,” Venable said. “You never want to get swept and certainly not here down the stretch. At the same time, I think our clubhouse and our vibe inside there is in a really good spot. Obviously this is a tough series where you want to get a couple of wins and win the series.
“But as far as getting swept and what it means more broadly, these guys all year have done a great job of turning the page, so that’s what we’ll do and be ready to go tomorrow.”
The Sox hit the road Friday for the first of three against the St. Louis Cardinals. A crucial three-game series against the Guardians follows, starting Monday at Progressive Field in Cleveland.
“We’ve got (16) games left,” Benintendi said. “If you would have asked us before the season if to be in this position with (16) left, we would have taken it. It stinks, obviously, getting swept at home. But who knows, maybe we go on the road and hit first and punch some other people in the mouth.
“Obviously it sucks, but it’s going to happen at some point.”
The Sox have shown an ability to bounce back throughout the season. They’ll need to do so at this critical point of their playoff pursuit.
“I know this club, I know this team, we’re not going to roll over,” Fedde said. “We expect better and we will be better.”